BACOLOD City – This city has bagged two awards for being the most competitive highly urbanized city (HUC) in Western Visayas.
The city was recognized for topping two out of the four pillars – economic dynamism and infrastructure – in the 3rd recognition ceremony for competitive local government units (LGUs) in Iloilo City on Monday.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who was represented by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran during the awarding ceremony, said the recognition showed the capital city has an environment conducive for businesses to grow.
“Our efforts to make the city business-friendly are now reaping fruits,” Leonardia added.
The regional competitiveness council (RCC-6), a public-private body, and the Department of Trade and Industry in Western Visayas (DTI-6) bestowed the awards based on the competitiveness of the LGUs in the four pillars – economic dynamism, infrastructure, government efficiency, and resiliency.
In economic dynamism, Bacolod was cited for initiating “programs creating a stable expansion of business and industries and higher employment,” while in infrastructure, it was cited for having “the physical building blocks that connect, expand and sustain a locality and its surroundings that enable a seamless flow of goods and services.”
“This is indeed a blissful year for Bacolod City. We have received numerous awards from different organizations,” said Familiaran after receiving the awards from DTI-6 regional director Rebecca Rascon, who also chairs the RCC-6.
He hoped the awards will encourage other LGUs to “do better than our best” and “to go beyond what is expected of us.”
Bacolod and Iloilo competed in the same category, being the only HUCs in Western Visayas.
Last year, Bacolod ranked first among the HUCs in the Visayas after moving up to eighth from the 20th spot in 2017 in the overall most competitive HUCs list. It ranked third in the most improved LGU in the HUCs category of the 2018 cities and municipalities competitiveness index.
The said ranking was announced by the national competitiveness council during the 6th competitiveness summit and awards in August last year.
In October, the city also received a special citation in the most business-friendly LGU awards of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.(With a report from PNA/PN)
